Harpoon gun



C. M. MEMWENY HARPOON GUN 2 Sheets-Sheet :2

Filed April M51, L5M@ INVENTOR.

Patented Jan. 31, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to harpoon guns of the type adapted tomechanically propel the harpoon and with the harpoon fixed to a line bywhich the harpoon may be retrieved together with any game impaledthereby.

One of the objects is to construct such a gun so it is reasonably safewhen in firing condition. Another is to provide an arrangement forstoring the harpoon line on the gun in such a fashion that it is noteasily entangled either during the time the gun is carried prior tofiring or when the line is following the harpoon when the latter is inflight. Further objects include the provision of an arrangementpermitting the gun to be comfortably cocked even though embodying verystrongly elastic harpoon propelling means. Other objects will becomeapparent from the following disclosure.

The accompanying drawings illustrate specific examples of harpoon gunsembodying the principles of the invention in what is at present believedto be their best form and including certain modifications, the variousfigures being as follows:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the first example of the gun;

Fig. 2 is a top view of Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 are longitudinal sections taken from the lines 3-3 and4-4, respectively, in Fig. 2 but on a considerably'larger scale.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged scale showing of the muzzle end of the gun withthe harpoon and line removed to clarify the illustration.

Fig. 6 is a simulated perspective illustrating the harpoon propellingmeans used, as they appear when removed from the gun; and

Figs. 7 and 8 are side views of modifications of the form illustrated byFig. 3.

The illustrated gun is assembled around a piece of metal pipe having along straight portion I, providing the guns forearm, a drop section 2,formed by bending the pipe, and another straight, but much shorter,section 3. The sections 2 and 3 provide the guns stock, with the dropsection 2 providing the proper drop for making aiming comfortable. Thesections l and 3 are shown parallel to each other, and the section 2bent at an angle of about 25 respecting the straight sections. Thesection 2 is illustrated as also being a straight section, but it couldbe made with reverse curves, that is to say S-shaped, if preferred. Thepipe used may be either the butt-welded or seamless tube varieties.

A gun barrel is provided in the Aforni of a piece of metal pipe 4 abouthalf as long as the fore arm section l. This pipe 4 is, of course, madeas straight as possible, and it is fastened to the forearm section I sothat its muzzle is about flush with the front end of the forearmsection. The two pieces may be fastened together by banding or bybrazing or welding the two together. Brazing or welding naturallyprovides more permanent joining, but banding has the advantage ofpermitting easy disassembly should straightening of the parts becomenecessary due to an accident.

The harpoon 5 may have any kind of attacking end, a .barb naturallybeing most appropriate since it prevents the harpoon from beingwithdrawn from impaled game during retrieving of the latter. Thus a barbis illustrated at 6. The back end of the harpoon has a notch 'l such asis conventional in the case of an arrow.

Two arms 8 extend radially from the front end of the forearm I, with thearms spreading symmetrically apart from the center line of the bottom ofthe forearm. The arms may be metal rods brazed or welded to the forearm.Elastic bands 9 are fastened to each of the arms 8 and extend rearwardlywith their back ends joined by a cord l0. The bands may be used eithersingly or as multiple strands, two strands being illustrated by thedrawings. The elastic material may be rubber, either natural orsynthetic, and the cord l0 is preferably the synthetic productmerchandised under the trade mark Nylon. This type of cord works wellwhen wet and has good wearing properties. The bands 9 should .be made asstrongly elastic as is consistent with the force used to manuallystretch them, and the cord l0 should be strong enough to carry themaximum stress these bands can exert.

Now it is to be understood that this harpoon gun is not a toy, It isintended for shooting game. This type of weapon is frequently usedunderwater in the shooting of large fish. Therefore, it is potentially avery dangerous thing if adequate safeguards are not provided. Heretoforeguns of 'this type have had the disadvantage that when provided with asafe sear it is very dicult to discharge them. The great force exertedagainst the sear prevents easy movement by the trigger. This has led tothe practice of using a sear arrangement that is not very safe againstaccidental discharge and, although this may permit easy firing withoutmaterial aim disturbance, it makes the gun a very hazardous thing tohandle, particularly during underwater work.

With the above in mind, the drawings show the harpoon 5 with atransverse hole II formed through it near the notch l'. The sear is inthe form of a pin I2 working upwardly through a vertical bushing I3fixed inside the forearm section I near its junction with the dropsection 2. This pin I2 is moved upwardly through the hols Il in theharpoon, when the gun is cocked, and, thus provides an extremely safearrangement.- But its resistance to release is. rather high due to thegreat force of' the bands 9 and the large friction areas between thesear and the sides ot the hole II in the harpoon, and also the sides ofthe hole in the bushing I3.

According to the invention a bent lever having a short arm Ill and along arm I5 isv provided with a hole it in its fulcrum. A screw il ispassed through a hole formed in the junction between the forearm anddrop sections lf and' 2 and through the hole Iiz-in the bent lever. Thisscrew extends at anV angle approximately bisect-v ing the angle formedby the leverarms. The hole IE` should be smaller than the head of thescrewy Il. but substantially larger than the latters shank', thuspermittingY the bent lever to have. a pivoting action loosely about thescrew il. The screwr il may bean ordinary machine screw with nuts It.screwed on it on either side of: the pipe forming the drop section 2,with the nuts tightcned to rigidly iixthe screw Il. The lower one ofthe. nuts i3. shouldbe spaced fromthe heads of;

the screw IEE to leave a space in which the bent lever may work. Asuitable pin with appropriate shoulders might bev substitutedv for thisscrew. The short arm I-i, ofthis lever, projects forward'- ly and' isprovided with a longitudinal recess I9v in its end, to provide afork-like effect. The lower end oi the pin I2f is provided withlongitudinally spaced shoulders or heads 2li and the pinis tted in theslot I9' with these heads 2t* on either side of. the short lever arm I4.The longer lever arm I5 then automatically extends, along the dropsection 2 and, through the mechanical advantageA it provides, permitssmooth and. easy withdrawal ci the scar pin I2 from the hole it, in theharpoon 5, without disturbing the aim. The recess or slot I9, in theshort lever arm, permits smooth translation of the. arcuate. lever swingto the linear motion of the Sear pin.

The rear end of the long lever arm i5 is providedwith a helicalcompression spring 2! workn ing between it and the point where the drop`section 2 joins withV the stock section: 3, this compression springbeing retained by a stud or rod Elia extending from that end ofthe dropsection 2 and passing through a longitudinally.I elongated hole in theadjacent or rear end ot the long lever arm I5. A pin 2lb is passedthroughV a transverse hole in the end of this stud, to retain the leverarm i5 against disengagement from the stud by the spring force. The studmay be passed through holes in the drop section 2' and retained bybrazing or welding.

It is to be noted that the arrangement illustratedV is extremely simple.There is nothing to get out of order yet accidental ring is not a greathazard. The dropsection 2V may be grasped by thel hand with thev fingersbetween it and the long lever arm I5, and when the gun is handled inthis fashion accidental ring is practically impossible. At the same timethe'V hand can be quickly shifted" to iiringv position with all ngers.,excepting the thumb, engaging the longi lever arm l5 near its swinging.end, the. great mechani. cal advantage of the system then permitting asmooth and easy withdrawal of the Sear pin I2 from its harpoon engagingposition. The stud 2Ia serves to steady the two-armed lever to preventany tendency to wobble. Thus it is a guide for the trigger. Should theparts become bent, due to extremely rough handling, disassembly forstraightening is very easy. Removal of the screw I1 and 01"' the stud 2Ia used to position the spring iS, completely frees the bent lever fromthe guns trigger andi sear'cperator. The short lever arm it may be veryeasily pulled awayv from its engagement with the sear pin. The stud 2 Iamust pass through an elongated hole in the long lever arr-neto permitthe latter to swing.

VCooking oi a powerful gun, of the type being f y described, is normallydiiiioult. The natural procedure is, to` put, the gun stock in the groinand to pulldown with both arms on the cord IE so as tofit itin the notch'I of the harpoon, the latter being positioned since its front is in thebarrels breech and its rear.- is retained by the sear pin in thehole tI.According to the. present invention the butt end` of the stock section3` is tted with a large soft ball 22.v This ball may be provided with ahole in which the endY of' the. pipe, comprising the butt section 3, ispushed, with a strong watereprooi cement, holding the. ball on. The balimay be inthe nature of alarge rubber sponge ball havingF a non-porousAexterior skin. Preferably it is about 3' inches indiameter. The rubberused maybe either natural. or synthetic, YVitli thisarrangementthe-f.groinoi the, person cooking the gun is not injured,cooking being a relatively comfortable and safev operation.A At the sametime the ball does; not get inthe wayl of the person manipulating thegun.

W hen the gunis red the ener-gy released drives the cord It forward witha very great force, the elastic bands also, of. course,1 iiyingforwardly. Thel present invention provides an arrangement for preventingthese parts from getting entangled each time the gun is.l fired.Thisis.- done by providingthe breech en d-` of;` the barrel 4 with adownwardly angled end 23 which provides, in cooperation with theforearmv pipe` section I, a. notch.

I Therefore, when the gun is red the cord I!) drives forwardly, whileperforming. itsY function of propeilingv the harpoon, and when itarrives at the breech it. iinds ar notch into whichit drives so as to beretained thereby'.v The, lengthl of the bands. and. or the cordE should;be proportioned so that the cord: isc drawn snugly into the notch, shownat 23, afterl the.- gun is fired. It follows tha-tthere is never anylchanceolv thee elastic bands v and the cord il); becoming entangled.

As previously indicatedgthegunbeing described is or the typewhere theharpoon is, kept captive with the gun. This is, done by the harpoonlline 24 which is. fixed'. to. they forward end of the harpoon and to oneof the arms 8i which anchor the elastic bands 9a, rThe line may bepermanently orl releasably fastened. Ir thislinel becomes entangled,duringv the ringof the arm, the flight of the' harpoon isinterfered"with.V The handling of' theline, on a gun. of Ithis type, hasalways been a problem which has neverbeen:` heretofore completelysolved. However, in the. present invention the nozzle end: ofthe gun isprovided with a front sight 2'5 in the form of a relatively largenequipped with a ramp 26. It. looks. like. a large ramp sight exceptingthat the forward end is provided. with a forwardly extending.rprojection 2T. at the.top.offthesight..

The rear sight is provided by an upstanding arm 28 adapted toswingl'ongitudmally ofthe gun by being mounted on a pivot pin 29 transverselysupported between the opstanding arms 3|) of an inverted U-shapedbracket which is Xed to the top of the gun barrel near its breech end.The bracket may be fastened by brazing or welding, or in any otherconvenient fashion. The bottom end of the pivot rear sight 28 isreleasably engaged by a spring clip 3l, retained in any convenientfashion inside of the bracket end, of the type permit ting release ofthe bottom end of the rear sight by the application of suicientdisplacing force. The upper end of the rear sight 28, which may be inthe form of a thick wire or a rod, is bent to provide a rear notch 32.

With the above described arrangement of sights, the harpoon line, whenthe gun is cocked and loaded, is passed back to the rear sight from thelines anchorage on the arm 8, the rear sight being raised, the linebeing then looped around it and back to the front sight, looped aroundthe front sights front and back to the rear sight, at a slightly higherlevel, and then looped around the rear sight, it now being in the notch32, and forwardly to the harpoon. Thus the line is looped back and forthin an orderly fashion and stored in a manner whereby it cannot be easilyen tangled. The rear sight is used simply by lining it up with the frontsight. If sighting is not needed, due to close range work for example,the front and rear sights may be considered simply as arms or mountingsfor holding the loops of line.

Preferably the line includes a short strand 33 of elastic material, suchas a short piece of relatively thin natural or synthetic rubber, withthis strand fixed at spaced points to gather a little loop 3d in theline It. This permits the line to be put under elastic tension while itis looped around the sights and assures snugness of the arrangement.

Now with this arrangement, when the gun is red, the harpoon drivesforwardly and puts more stress on the rear sight 28 than the clip 3i canresist, the latter therefore permitting displacement of the lower end ofthe rear sight and allowing the rear sight to swing forwardly. Thisreleases the stored loops of line at the instant of ring, the harpoonthen driving forwardly and taking its line from loops which are almostliterally floating in the air or water, depending on where the gun isused. During this action the smooth, forwardly sloping, ramp 26 permitsthe loops to be pulled over it without any risk of entanglement. Thusthe accuracy of the harpoon flight is not interfered with materially.Furthermore, the line does not become entangled during the handling ofthe gun prior to firing.

Considerable shock results from the cord ill striking into the notchprovided by the undercut 23 in the breech end of the guns barrel. Thisrapidly destroys the cord il) and renders the gun inoperative until thecord is replaced but, in the illustrated gun, this trouble is avoided byfastening a heavy strap of natural or synthetic rubber, or any easilyelastic material, around the parts to provide a shock absorber. Morespecifically, this strap, which is in the form of a flat strip of thematerial, is shown at 36 as being looped over the top of the barrel soits projects a little beyond the latters breech end, the strap endsextending downwardly and being tightly hound together by a cord serving32'. Preferably the depending ends of the strap are narrowed so that,with the aid of the serving 31, a forward handle is provided somewhat inthe fashion of a light, shoulder-type subemachine gun. The width of thestrap should be sufficient to provide a iirm engagement with the forearmand barrel, it wrapping around them both, and to also project rearwardlya little bit beyond the breech end of the barrel t. Now, when the gun isfired, the cord i6 must first engage the elastic strap side andelastically deforln it, prior to driving into the notch provided by thebarrels undercut 23. The elastic deformation gently dissipates aconsiderable portion of the driving force of the cord, and thus greatlyprolongs its service life. Furthermore, it takes up some of the shocktransmitted to the gun proper, thus removing some of the jerk incidentalto the ring of this type of gun.

In the modification shown by Fig. 'l the rear sight 28a is mountedsomewhat differently, :as by being pinned by a transverse pin projectingfrom the outside of the barrel, and its lower end is retained againstswinging by a friction clip Sla. That is to say, its lower end is verystrongly, frictionally engaged by a clip, preferably urged against theswinging lower end, of the sight, by its elasticity. The engagement maybe made so strong as to interfere with the flight of the harpoon. Thisdoes not cause trouble, however, since the lower end is connected by astring .'58 with the forward end of the short lever arm lll, the stringbeing looped over a small sheave 39 so it may extend downwardly to thelever end. Now, with this system, operation of the long lever arm i5 notonly fires the gun but drags the lower en-d of the rear sight 23a fromits engagement with the clip 3 la, thus relieving the harpoon line fromthe task of doing this. Consequently, the line loops are again free sothat the harpoon is not materially interfered with.

In Fig. 8 the same arrangement is shown as is shown in Fig. 7, exceptingthat the string 38 connects with a two-armed lever 40 pivoted to theside of the forearm section I with its upper arm in the path of the cordl0 as: the latter drives forwardly during firing. The string 38 connectswith the lower arm of this lever 4D. In this instance the string I0drives forwardly, engages the upper end of the lever 4l) and swings itto immediately drag the lower end, of the rear sight 28a, from itsengagement by the clip 31a. This relieves the trigger arrangement fromthe extra load of releasing the rear sight.

Since the gun is built around the pipe length providing the parts l, 2and 3, it is possible to make the gun more or less buoyant by makingcertain the pipe is watertight throughout its length and by closing itsends. Thus a cork or plug M is shown driven in the forward end of thepipe, the ball 22 closing its rear end. The bushing I3 is madewatertight respecting the pipe, so that water cannot enter at thispoint, and, for the same reason, the screw I8 may be provided withrubber washers l8a for preventing leaking at this point. The pin 2id, orother arrangement, used to position the spring 2| should also beassociated with the pipe in a watertight manner, as well as all theother parts. With these precautions the gun may be made so it actuallyoats. Should the user nd this annoying, in underwater work, it ispossible to let a little water into the pipe, by removing andsubsequently replacing the cork or plug 40, until the preferred feel isobtained. If actual buoyancy is required it is suggested that aluminumparts be used.

Before closing, it is appropriate to again emphasize that this arm isintended for shooting relatively' large game. Itis especially designedfor use. un Ywater in c,onnecticnv with. hunting large. game In thiseldthe sun is of particular value1 in that. its. designV reduces thechances for accidents, retains the harpoon line. against entanglement,and has a low drag resistencev as'v it is I novedV about inthe water.The parts are all simple and rugged. Very smooth. ringv is possiblebecause all of the` ngers, excepting the thumb,` may. be Wrapped aroundtheV lower end of they long lever arm t5., comprisingA the; gunstrigger.,` with the thumb and heel of the: hand ont the dropr section2.. Eractically all of the hands power is, available for ring. This,togetherr with. the mechanical advantage provided by the system, resultsin a very smooth let-01T, At they instantr of discharge the harpoon lineis freed. Up to thisl time the rear sight 2S has been available forsighting purposes. Due to the' ease with which the gun may be cocked,extremely powerful propeller bands may be, used, so. the, harpoonlacquires, very highA velocity. A1- 'togetherv the gun makes a Veryelcient Weapon fory use in connection with. huntingpurposes generally,and particularly,v inA connection with "Y:

under; water fish andk shooting.

The guns advantages adapt it forv other than huntingpurposes.. Thus,itmay be used-wherever it is necessary to shoot a line` from one placeto another. Spears', arrowsy and. similar projectiles may be; fired, by`the gun, if they are adapted for the, purpose,

A gun including the combination oi a barrel having a downwardly. andforwardly slanting breech, a support extending rearwardly from. breech,elastic strane-leon either side oi said bai'- rel` with their iront endsanchored: forwardly of Said. breech and their rear ends joined by aconnection, whereby a harpoon.- or similar projectile may` bemechanically red through said barrel by propulsion` received throughsaid con neetiona from said strandsl said, connection driving into` the;notch. formed by said breech and said support. and. retaining itselfYthere. after its. @ring action, whereby tov reta-in itself and saidstrandsy againstentanglement, and with said come binatcn furtherincluding a band of deormable elastic material looped' over said barrelnear its breech and partly projecting beyond the. latter to function asa shock absorber for said connection, with said support comprising aforearm for said gun and with the depending ends of said band extendingbelow saidr iorearim and serving applied over said depending ends, topro vide said gun with a fore grip.

2. A gun including the combination of a line storage armv about which aprojectile-carried. line looped, a pivot for mounting said arm tothe gunso said arm may swing, a clip for frictionally. holding said armupwardly, amm/ing, mechanical propo-lient for the projectile red by thegun, an. eieinent in the path of said propellent and a connectionbetween said element4 and said. arm for dragging the latter from saidclip when` said eienient is. struck by said propellent, whereby toieease said erm upon the firing. o said gun.

CRESSON H. KEARNY.

REFERENCES CITED The .following references are of record in the oi thispatent:-

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 477,747 Emerson June 28, 18921,124,726 Gray Jan. 12,1915 1,133,189 Shannon Mar. 23,v 1915 1,259,463:DeFir Mar. 12, 1918 1,580,854 Piessens Apr. 13, 192,6 1,704,810 SperryMar. 12, 1-929 1,797,945v Blackman Mar. 26, 1929 1,726,829 Heinen et alSept. 3, 1929 1,746,246 Elworthy Feb. 11, 1930 1,971,137 Geraci Aug. 21,1934 2,267,065 Wilen Dec. 23, 1941 2,305,176 Littman Dec. 15, 19422,334,332 Johnson Nov. 15, 1943

